Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2018-9962 is a remote code execution flaw in Foxit Reader 9.0.1.1049. A victim must open a malicious file or visit a malicious page. If successful, attacker code runs with the privileges of the current Foxit Reader process.
Executive priority
Prioritize remediation where Foxit Reader 9.0.1.1049 is used by staff handling external documents. Business risk is meaningful because successful exploitation can run attacker code, but urgency is moderated by the need for user interaction and lack of cited active exploitation.
Technical view
The flaw is in parsing an annotation author attribute. The source describes missing validation of an object's existence before operations, mapped to CWE-416. ZDI identifies this as ZDI-CAN-5435/ZDI-18-346. The supplied data names only Foxit Reader 9.0.1.1049 as affected.
Likely exposure
Exposure is limited to environments with Foxit Reader 9.0.1.1049 installed, especially on user workstations that handle external PDFs or web content. The bundle does not identify other Foxit products or versions as affected.
Exploitation context
Exploitation requires user interaction through a malicious page or file. The CVE is not listed as KEV in the supplied bundle, and no cited source states active exploitation. Do not assume exploitation in the wild from these sources alone.
Researcher notes
The public bundle lacks CVSS metrics and does not specify a fixed version. Analysis should stay constrained to the named affected version and vendor/ZDI records. Validate exposure through asset inventory rather than exploit reproduction.
Mitigation direction
- Inventory endpoints for Foxit Reader 9.0.1.1049.
- Review Foxit security bulletins for the vendor-supported fixed release.
- Update or remove affected Foxit Reader installations per vendor guidance.
- Restrict handling of untrusted PDFs on systems that still run the affected version.
Validation and detection
- Confirm Foxit Reader version on managed endpoints.
- Check whether exposed systems match version 9.0.1.1049.
- Review endpoint telemetry for suspicious Foxit Reader crashes or child-process behavior.
- Verify remediation by confirming affected versions are no longer present.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-416: Exact CWE lookup
Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupExecution behavior lookup
The CVE wording references code or command execution, so execution technique review may help defensive triage. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2018-9962 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Unknown
- CVSS
- Not scored
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
CVSS and timeline data
No CVSS vectors or timeline events were available in the normalized CVE source material.
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://zerodayinitiative.com/advisories/ZDI-18-346CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
- https://www.foxitsoftware.com/support/security-bulletins.phpCVE reference · x_refsource_CONFIRM
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.
Use After Free
Use After Free represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.